Helen Harendza of Binghamton loves to tell the story of Binghamton’s early days and to show visitors the splendor of the Gilded Age at the Phelps Mansion Museum of Binghamton.
“It’s part of the foundation of this city,” she said.
That’s why Harendza has been a volunteer tour guide since 2005. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of history and the mansion with visitors and answering their questions.
“She’s just a joy,” Jennifer Corby, director of the museum, said of Harendza. “She has an immense way of giving tours and a great knowledge of the house. We are lucky to have her.”
A lifelong Binghamton resident, Harendza has been a fan of the mansion all her life. When she was just 6 years old, she started playing recitals in the ballroom of the mansion every June. She played through the age of 16 on the mansion’s piano: a 1935 Steinway. She still plays songs for visitors on the same piano she played on as a child.
“I loved this house,” she said.
After a long career as a teacher, she joined the Monday Afternoon Club, a private women’s club which owned the mansion for more than 100 years, back in 1996.
“I joined when it was a club mainly to keep this place going,” she said. “I was afraid it wasn’t going to exist anymore.”
She worried that the Phelps Mansion would go the way of so many other fine old homes and wind up a parking lot. But that didn’t happen.
Court Street, where the mansion was built in 1871, was once known as Mansion Row but today the Phelps Mansion is the only one left. Designed by Isaac G. Perry, one of the most famous 19th century architects in New York state; the mansion was the home of Sherman D. Phelps, an entrepreneur and former mayor of Binghamton. The Phelps Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and became a museum in 2005, the same year Harendza became a tour guide.
Today, visitors can walk across marble floors, climb a gleaming staircase made of black walnut that leads to the upstairs bedrooms and admire plate glass mirrors and glittering chandeliers. Most of the furnishings are period pieces that were not used by the Phelps family but are from the same era.
As visitors admire the mansion’s beauty, they can learn about the history of the house from Harendza. She also talks about Binghamton’s beginnings which date back to after the Revolutionary War. She gives some information about New York state’s history and what life was like back then. She shares details about the Erie Canal and even sings and plays “The Erie Canal Song” for visitors.
Harendza said she’s given the tour for visitors who hail from all over the country. She’s also hosted overseas visitors from as far away as Russia and China.
“We have people from everywhere,” she said.
At 84 years old, Harendza has no plans to retire from her volunteer job.
“I like to keep active,” she said. “I’m not a couch sitter.”
More about Helen Harendza
Home and Hometown: Binghamton. Born in the First Ward, she’s lived on the West Side and now lives on the South Side.
Career: Retired after 34 years of teaching music in the Binghamton City School District
If you go: Tours of the Phelps Mansion Museum are offered at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens ages 62 and older. Children ages 12 and under are free.
: To donate, volunteer or learn more about the Phelps Mansion Museum, go to phelpsmansion.org
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